Songlines Magazine (April/May 2015, #107) by Songlines Magazine

Mark Allen Group, St Jude’s Church Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB, UK +44 (0)20 7738 5454 info@songlines.co.uk www.songlines.co.uk SUBSCRIPTIONS

UK: 0800 137 201 Overseas: +44 (0)1722 716997 subs@songlines.co.uk ADVERTISING

+44 (0)20 7501 6683 Editor-in-chief Simon Broughton Publisher Paul Geoghegan Editor Jo Frost Deputy Editor Alexandra Petropoulos Art Director Calvin McKenzie Subscriptions & Online Content Manager Edward Craggs Advertisement Manager James Anderson-Hanney Reviews Editor Matthew Milton News Editor Nathaniel Handy Listings Editor Tatiana Rucinska listings@songlines.co.uk World Cinema Editor Yoram Allon Cover Photo Iain McDonagh Subscriptions Director Sally Boettcher Publishing Director Sian Harrington

WELCOME

Holy ghost! Songlines makes up a musical trinity

s I’m sure you’re aware, since the last issue Songlines has been acquired by the Mark Allen Group (MAG). This puts us with an established quality publisher with a complementary portfolio of music magazines – Jazzwise and Gramophone. Those of you who’ve been with Songlines since the beginning will remember that it was Gramophone that originally launched the magazine as a quarterly back in 1999. What goes around comes around. The transition has been made with no disruption to the publishing schedule and MAG has also decided to increase the frequency to ten rather than eight issues a year. The first extra issue will be added in the autumn. There will therefore be an increase in subscription rates, but getting Songlines on subscription is still the most convenient and cost-effective way of receiving it. One saving we have had to make is to stop the Songlines podcast from this issue onwards – I know there were many fans who liked hearing the music and from the artists themselves. We still have our covermount CD every issue and occasional bonus CDs during the year so you can still hear the music we are writing about. We will of course maintain our unequalled coverage of the music in articles, features and reviews. I’m delighted that we’ve got so many female artists featured this issue. Our cover stars, Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan, are all recognised in their own right and have now joined forces to create an Americana super trio (see p32). They gave a powerful show at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections and are on tour in the UK in April. Macedonian singer Esma Redžepova is one of the most formidable women on the planet, both in her music and in what she’s done for Roma rights (p48). Accordionist and ethnographer Mariana Sadovska has been dubbed ‘the Ukrainian Björk’ and makes a welcome tour of the UK, bringing a fresh take on the music of her troubled homeland (p46). She was here last year for an extraordinary concert with Kronos Quartet playing her piece Chernobyl. The Harvest. Particularly remarkable for their continuing struggle are Iranian sisters Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat, who have a steely resilience beneath their quiet charm (p38). Don’t miss their performances at Songlines Encounters Festival on June 5, or at one of their other dates as part of Songlines Encounters On Tour (see p22). Simon Broughton, editor-in-chief

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE INCLUDE

Managing Director Jon Benson CEO Ben Allen Chairman Mark Allen Published by MA Business & Leisure Ltd

© MA Business & Leisure Ltd, 2015. All rights reserved. ISSN 1464-8113. MA Business & Leisure Ltd is part of the Mark Allen Group www.markallengroup.com Printing Pensord Press Ltd Record trade distribution WWMD Ltd 0121 788 3112 Newstrade distribution COMAG 01895 433600 The paper used within this publication has been sourced from Chain-of-Custody certified manufacturers, operating within international environmental standards, to ensure sustainable sourcing of the raw materials, sustainable production and to minimise our carbon footprint.

MATEUSZ DOBROWOLSKI As an NGO activist, manager and Polish radio journalist, Mateusz is our key link to the vibrant Polish roots music scene. This issue he describes his first ever live Slovakian music experience (p84).

SAM JONES Sam is a record producer who runs SoundThread, building studios, recording wonderful music throughout Africa and beyond. Read his postcard from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (p53).

MARK SAMPSON Writer and DJ Mark lives in south-west France in a straw-bale house featured on Grand Designs. A contributor and regular reviewer since 2007, in this issue he reviews the Rough Guide to Psychedelic Salsa (p61).

Songlines was launched in 1999 and is the definitive magazine for world music – music that has its roots in all parts of the globe, from Mali to Mexico, India to Iraq. Whether this music is defined as traditional, contemporary, folk or fusion, Songlines is the only magazine to truly represent and embrace it. However, Songlines is not just about music, but about how the music fits into the landscape: it’s about politics, history and identity. Delivered in both print and digital formats, Songlines, through its extensive articles and reviews, is your essential and independent guide to a world of music and unique culture, whether you are starting on your journey of discovery or are already a seasoned fan.

@SonglinesMag

facebook.com/songlines

google.com/+songlines ISSUE 107

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CONTENTS

38 Marjan & Mahsa Vahdat

Tahmineh Monzavi

UPFRONT

FEATURES

REGULARS

REVIEWS

06 Top of the World CD 08 My World interview

30 Songlines Music

48 Beginner’s Guide:

56 58 62 71 73 74 79 81 82 84

11 16 21 23 24 27 29

Gavin Esler What’s New & Obits Who’s Touring Letters Soapbox Introducing... Plaza Francia & Ljova Spotlight on Lau-Land Quickfire: Kiran Ahluwalia, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh & Alex Vann

WIN

38 42 46

Awards: The Nominees Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz & Aoife O’Donovan The Vahdat sisters Stelios Petrakis Mariana Sadovska

53 87 92 94 97 98

Esma Redžepova Festival Pass: Sommelo Festival Postcard from Dar es Salaam Gig Guide Subscribe Overseas Festivals Dispatch from: Ségou, Mali Essential Ten: Bluegrass and newgrass albums

Africa Americas Europe Asia Middle East Fusion DVDs Books World Cinema Live Reviews

A Guide to the Birdsong of South America LP and set of postcards 11 Tickets to see Plaza Francia at La Linea 24 Roy Cape: A Life on the Calypso and Soca Bandstand book 81 A copy of Pelo Malo DVD 83

COMPETITIONS Send entries, marked clearly with the competition name, your name, address, email and telephone number to the address on p3 or email: comps@songlines.co.uk. Winners will be chosen at random. Only one entry per household. No cash alternatives. If you would prefer not to be sent details of other Songlines products and services, or products from other carefully selected companies, please state clearly on your entry. Closing date May 15 2015 (unless otherwise stated)

ISSUE 107

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top of the world

01 Goran KajfeŠ Subtropic Arkestra ‘Dokuz Seki/Esmerim’ 02 António Zambujo ‘Fatalidade’ 03 Sam Lee & Friends ‘Bonny Bunch of Roses’ 04 Ágnes Herczku ‘Gyimesi Karszilamasz’ 05 Tarek Abdallah & Adel Shams El-Din ‘Ni Sama’i Ni Qadim’ 06 Araz Ali ‘Tumi Amaro Bhitorey’ 07 Courtbouillon ‘The Midland Two-Step’ 08 Mahsa Vahdat ‘Kissing the Wine Jug’ 09 Stelios Petrakis Quartet ‘Astro’ 10 Various Artists ‘Africa Express Presents... Terry Riley’s in C Mali’

Free tracks

THE BEST NEW RELEASES

+ GAVIN ESLER’S PLAYLIST

top

TOP

OF THE WORLD

of the world

ISSUE 107 PLUS 5 tracks chosen by Gavin Esler 11 Guillermo Klein & Los Guachos ‘Amor Profundo’ 12 Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble ‘Dal’ouna on the Return’ 13 Anouar Brahem ‘Dance With Waves’ 14 Avishai Cohen Trio ‘Seattle’ 15 Anna Phoebe ‘Nines’

On your free CD – the editor’s selection of the top ten new releases reviewed in this issue

Featuring António Zambujo, Anouar Brahem Sam Lee & Friends, Stelios Petrakis Quartet, Anna Phoebe, Mahsa Vahdat and more...

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STWCD83 This compilation & © 2015 MA Business & Leisure Ltd. Email: info@songlines.co.uk, www.songlines.co.uk Executive producer Paul Geoghegan. Compiled and sequenced by Jo Frost and Alexandra Petropoulos. Design by Calvin McKenzie. Mastering by Good Imprint. CD pressing by Software Logistics Ltd. The producers of this CD have paid the composers and publishers for the use of their music. Wasla: Suites Musicales Egyptiennes (Buda Musique) & © 2015 Buda Musique. Courtesy of Buda Musique

04 Ágnes Herczku ‘Gyimesi Karszilamasz’ (5:21)

15 Anna Phoebe ‘Nines’ (5:28)

14 Avishai Cohen Trio ‘Seattle’ (2:53)

top of the world plaYlist tracks 02 António Zambujo ‘Fatalidade’ (2:52)

07 Courtbouillon ‘The Midland Two-Step’ (3:48)

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01 Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra ‘Dokuz Seki/Esmerim’ (6:29) TOP OF THE WORLD SELECTION

12 Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble ‘Dal’ouna on the Return’ (4:49)

06 Araz Ali ‘Tumi Amaro Bhitorey’ (5:27)

11 Guillermo Klein & Los Guachos ‘Amor Profundo’ (3:02) GAVIN ESLER’S PLAYLIST

10 tracks from this issue’s best new albums + 5 bonus tracks exclusively with the April/May 2015 issue of Songlines

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06 Araz Ali ‘Tumi Amaro Bhitorey’ From Murshidi and Sufi Songs: Field Recordings by

From The Reason Why Vol 2 on Headspin Recordings

Deben Bhattacharya on ARC Music

Swedish trumpeter Kajfeš creatively

This is a special collection of the last

reimagines music from Turkey, the US,

recordings made by ethnomusicologist

Cameroon and Brazil, backed by his

Deben Bhattacharya, featuring Bengali

excellent nine-piece band. See p75

devotional musicians. See p71

02 António Zambujo

07 Courtbouillon

From Rua da Emenda on World Village

From Le Mississippi on Accords Croisés

‘Fatalidade’

‘The Midland Two-Step’

António Zambujo has established his own

This excellent double-CD box set provides

interpretation of fado music that sounds

an overview of contemporary roots music

effortless while maintaining the African,

along the Mississippi including Cajun,

Brazilian and South American flavours

folk, blues, gospel, brass and Mardi Gras

that make his music so distinct. See p68

Indian music. See p60

03 Sam Lee & Friends ‘Bonny Bunch of Roses’

08 Mahsa Vahdat

Singer Sam Lee wandered through the

Bridging genres for a fully convincing

UK and Ireland learning travellers’ songs,

Oriental fusion on a par with artists like

which he delivers here with a sensibility

Dhafer Youssef, Iranian singer Mahsa

that carries these powerful stories and

Vahdat proves that Persian music

melodies into modern form. See p64

continues to evolve. See p77

04 Ágnes Herczku ‘Gyimesi Karszilamasz’

09 Stelios Petrakis Quartet

One of Hungary’s best folk vocalists,

From Avgi: Live in Heraklion Walls on Buda Musique

Ágnes Herczku collaborates with

The lyra virtuoso and his acoustic quartet

instrumentalist Nikola Parov for an

return to their Cretan roots in both

album that highlights some of the best

traditional and new pieces, performed

Hungarian traditional music. See p63

live in Heraklion and Athens. See p67

05 Tarek Abdallah & Adel Shams El-Din ‘Ni Sama’i Ni Qadim’

10 Various Artists

Abdallah explores traditional Egyptian

From Africa Express Presents... Terry Riley’s in C Mali on Transgressive

maqam through the structure of the

A slew of African artists add ancient and

wasla, a suite of pieces, with a dazzling

magical layers of wisdom to Riley’s late

spark of individuality on oud. See p73

20th-century masterpiece. See p57

From The Fade in Time on The Nest Collective Records

From Bandázom on Fonó Music

From Wasla: Suites Musicales Egyptiennes on Buda Musique

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03 Sam Lee & Friends ‘Bonny Bunch of Roses’ (4:15)

09 Stelios Petrakis Quartet ‘Astro’ (5:37)

01 Goran KajfeŠ Subtropic Arkestra ‘Dokuz Seki/Esmerim’

‘Kissing the Wine Jug’ From Traces of an Old Vineyard on Kirkelig Kulturverksted

‘Astro’

‘Africa Express Presents... Terry Riley’s in C Mali’

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+ Gavin Esler’s playlist 11

11 Guillermo Klein & Los Guachos ‘Amor Profundo’ From Filtros on Sunnyside Communications

Esler has travelled extensively in Latin America and this track highlights his love of Argentinian music: “Their culture is so strong and interesting,” he says.

12 Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble ‘Dal’ouna on the Return’ From Exile on Enja Records

Atzmon’s combination of Jewish roots with Palestinian music appeals to Esler and this track features the powerful, declamatory vocals of Palestinian singer Reem Kelani.

13 Anouar Brahem ‘Dance with Waves’ From The Astounding Eyes of Rita on ECM Records

Dedicated to the memory of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, it’s the title of this album and its filmic qualities that intrigues Esler: “It’s a real gem of an album.”

“ A lot of this music seems to me to be narrative music in some way; it’s telling some kind of story, even if there is no obvious story there.” Turn over for the full interview with Gavin Esler

14 Avishai Cohen Trio ‘Seattle’ From Gently Disturbed on Razdaz Recordz

Esler puts on the albums of the double bass player when he’s cooking although he says “I don’t know whether they make me cook any better or not!” He’s got tickets to see him when he comes to London in July.

15 Anna Phoebe ‘Nines’

From Between the Shadow and the Soul on Anna Phoebe Music “I love this musician. That’s why I married her,” Esler confides, and jokes “she’d

All Top of the World and playlist albums are available to purchase through the new Songlines CD Shop. Delivered worldwide and with free P&P for all UK orders. See p10 for more details.

www.songlinescdshop.co.uk or call+44 (0)1689 888 888

divorce me if I didn’t choose one!” It’s the first time a My World guest has selected a track by their own spouse!

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Now Available... Order any of these new releases today, delivered worldwide with free P&P for all UK orders.

£11.99 £10.99

£11.99

Murshidi and Sufi Songs: Field Recordings by Deben Bhattacharya

Kiran Ahluwalia Sanata: Stillness

Baka Beyond After the Tempest

ARC Music (EUCD2572)

March Hare Music (MAHACD36)

ARC Music (EUCD2571)

£10.99 £11.99

£11.99

The Gloaming The Gloaming

Ágnes Herczku Bandázom

Julie Fowlis Gach Sgeul: Every Story

Real World (CDRW200)

Fonó Music (FA366-2)

Machair Records (MACH003)

www.songlinescdshop.co.uk or call +44 (0)1689 888 888 *Prices listed are for UK orders. Additional postage costs are applicable for overseas orders, please see www.songlinescdshop.co.uk for details issue 98

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What’s new Views, news and events from around the world

Fela Kuti pictured in Detroit, 1986

The Silencers

The annual Freemuse report on violations of artistic freedom reveals a worsening trend in 2014, with a total of 237 recorded incidents. Here are the worst offenders…

Win

We have three LPs and sets of postcards to give away. To enter, answer: What is the name of Robin Perkins’ blog?

See p5 for competition rules

Tweet Tweet Take a bird enthusiast and a selection of South America’s most talented young artists, mix them together, and out pops one of this year’s most charming music projects. A Guide to the Birdsong of South America is the brainchild of Robin Perkins, editor of global

sounds blog Rhythm and Roots. Artists including Dengue Dengue Dengue and Chancha Via Circuito were challenged to choose two snippets of endangered national birdsong. The result is an inspiring mix of digital Peruvian cumbia and bass-heavy electronica that

blends effortlessly with a quizzical Ecuadorian Jocotoco Antpitta. “Our aim is to combine art and activism... and raise awareness about the plight of these threatened birds,” says Perkins. Sales will go towards raising funds to protect these threatened species. #tweeton.

38 China The vast majority of the cases in China (29) relate to the detainment of artists. 22 Russia The Putin regime is most guilty for censorship and attacks. 16 Turkey Turkey’s record is tied up with the strict legal code of its military constitution with 11 instances of prosecution. 15 Iran Seven detentions were recorded in Iran, alongside the killing of poet Hashem Shaabani. 11 Egypt The new military government is most guilty of censorship. 10 Pakistan A mixture of prosecution and persecution, alongside the shooting of singer Gulnaz. 8 US All but one case is of censorship, with a single incident of threat connected with the North Korean satire, The Interview. 8 UK All were cases of censorship, mainly in Northern Ireland. 7 India All but one case is of censorship, with a single incident of persecution related to Tamil war drama Inam. 7 Cuba The Cuban government is largely guilty of detainment and imprisonment of artists.

+ ONLINE http:// artsfreedom.org/?p=8615

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INTRODUCING...

Renaud Corlouer

Plaza Francia

The trio are blurring the boundaries between retro tango and contemporary pop. Alexandra Petropoulos reports

laza Francia might be a new name to many of our readers, but the folks behind the group are certainly no new kids on the block. The group combines the electro-tango genius of Eduardo Makaroff and Christoph Müller (Gotan Project) with the queen of French pop, Catherine Ringer (formerly part of Les Rita Mitsouko). As Plaza Francia they explore the space between tango, pop and rock, which finds the long-form, largely instrumental tango that we have come to love from Gotan Project condensed into bite-sized songs airing closer to the acoustic than electronic. That Ringer is the only voice of Plaza Francia is a testament to how well the project came together. “I had this idea to write songs inspired by tango,”

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Makaroff explains, “and we wanted them to be songs interpreted by women. We started to think about singers and we had some in mind.” He admits that their original idea was to have several different singers and voices across the album. They asked Ringer, planning to record just two songs, but “it was simply so great. So we asked Catherine if she would be OK to do everything!” Ringer is the perfect match, her sultry voice perfectly blurs those lines between tango and pop, and the traditional and contemporary. “It was more about classic songwriting without being necessarily retro,” Makaroff elaborates. “Especially with the lyrics, it’s contemporary. It’s a hybrid form because it mixes a lot of different elements but the main ingredient is Argentinian tango.” As such, each of the songs on their debut album, A New Tango Songbook, are in Argentinian Spanish, forcing Ringer, who does not speak Spanish, to step outside of her comfort zone. “I made work of learning the songs and translating, knowing every word, to jump deeply in the songs, to know the songs.” And yet despite her extensive

research, she reassures me that “you don’t have to understand the lyrics. The thing is to feel the songs.” She tells me that while she enjoyed diving into the world of tango, it wasn’t completely unfamiliar territory. “In French songs we have a tango feeling. In the 1920s we were fond of tango so it’s not so strange for us. It was a pleasure to jump into tango. And they wanted someone who was a tango virgin,” she laughs. “I am no more a virgin.” Ringer has a tango soul and when asked what that means she elaborates: “The tango soul is to be dramatic, to be intense and to give suspense in the song… and humour.” Makaroff cuts in, “and sensuality,” he pauses reflectively. “Tango is life.”

+ DATES Plaza Francia will perform + +

on April 23 at KOKO as part of La Linea. See Gig Guide for details ALBUM A New Tango Songbook will be reviewed next issue WIN We have a pair of tickets to their KOKO show to give away. To enter, answer: What was the name of Ringer’s former band? Dealine: April 2. See p5 for rules

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Ljova

Simon Broughton speaks to the Russian composer and violinist Ljova prior to his London concerts

Pemi Paull

bout two-thirds of the way through the klezmerdominated set of Ljova and the Kontraband at WOMEX in Cardiff, full of quick-fire, New York repartee, Ljova suddenly introduced an arrangement of the ‘Adagietto’ from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. This is the famous music from the Death in Venice film, but it’s a brave and insane idea to arrange and condense this 12-minute movement for a vast orchestra, into a two-and-ahalf-minute piece for solo viola – and what’s more, all those long legato melodies are played pizzicato. Given the range of his activities, it’s surprising that Moscow-born, New York-resident Ljova (Lev Zhurbin) hasn’t featured in these pages before. As well as leading his own group, Ljova and the Kontraband, he composes for film, and arranges music for two of the world’s most eclectic string quartets: Kronos and Brooklyn Rider. Last year Brooklyn Rider gave the UK premiere of Ljova’s Culai, a string quartet inspired by Taraf de Haidouk’s fiddler Nicolae Neacşu – a wonderful transposition of peasant folk music into the concert hall. Ljova has also written and arranged for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project, Gustavo Santaolalla and Osvaldo Golijov. He’s now bringing a diverse range of pieces to play with the City of London Sinfonia in their CLoSer: Emigré series at the Village Underground. As we go to press, the repertoire is still being decided, but will include music from the ballet Hogar, song settings of Californian poet Bert Meyers and music from his first solo album Vjola: World on Four Strings. This last includes the delightful ‘Bagel on the Malecon’, which, as the title suggests, is influenced by both klezmer and Cuban music. But all Ljova’s music is

full of texture, tunefulness and what could be called, I guess, Russian soul. The concert also includes a specially commissioned piece, but as Ljova often works in an improvisatory way, all he’ll say now is “I have some ideas.” Ljova was also behind an idea to create Signal Strength, a piece for musicians on the New York subway in nine different locations performing simultaneously, linked by WiFi. He conducted the musicians from Bryant Park linked through laptops and phones. The international band includes percussionists from Jamaica and Trinidad, but also more outlandish

sounds like a theremin and a musical saw. The YouTube performance, which you can watch on our YouTube channel, has been viewed by over 188,000 people. Ljova joins the City of London Sinfonia on April 29 at Village Underground and is involved in a kids concert, Crash Bang Wallop! Bon Voyage, on a musical adventure round the world at Cadogan Hall on May 9.

+ video Watch the video of Ljova’s +

New York subway piece, Signal Strength, on our YouTube channel ONLINE www.ljova.com, www.cls.co.uk/émigré

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I’m With Her

Rose Skelton catches up with Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan – hot property after their storming international debut at this year’s Celtic Connections and about to embark on a UK tour

The Americana Dream T

he newness of the music and the just-born nature of the configuration gave the international debut performance by Sara Watkins, Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Jarosz (“just call us a band”) at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections in January a sense of urgency and excitement that was obvious the moment the three women appeared on stage. All of us in the audience, including fêted dobro player and producer Jerry Douglas, sat forward on our seats, waiting to see what would be served. There wasn’t an empty seat in the house. What was remarkable was not how good their voices sounded, or how great their instrumentation, but what an elaborate texture their voices made together. This came out most clearly when the three sang ‘Be My Husband’, a dark, bluesy a capella song that Nina Simone first recorded in 1965. The three women stood together, without instruments, clapping a slow beat with their hands, their feet stamping on the floor. As they sang, the range – from O’Donovan’s soft high to Watkin’s powerful low, with Jarosz carrying the steady middle – gave the song a dimension that was both muscular and honeyed. The same went for a John Hiatt song, ‘Crossing Muddy Waters’, taking the original – a very male, singular-toned song of particular, flawed beauty – and making it multi-layered and mellifluous. “I think our voices have very different colours,” says O’Donovan the next morning, “especially when we switch

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[parts]. It just creates this very different palate. It’s unlike anything I think I’ve ever done before.” The fact of the band’s sell-out popularity before they’ve even played a formal show together comes due to their careers as solo artists and as part of incredibly successful bands. Sara Watkins, at 33, came up through Nickel Creek – probably the most successful and formative of the bands that might loosely be called progressive bluegrass – before going solo while Nickel Creek were on hiatus, recording two bold, beautiful solo albums. As a fiddle player and singer, she blends a hearty country sound with an unpredictable, and slightly edgy, sense of fun. Aoife O’Donovan, 32, jointly formed Crooked Still in 2001, a band whose combined daring and energy took the traditional string band and folk sound, some elements of bluegrass and turned it into a kind of music that has paved the way for so many other bands in its wake. O’Donovan’s voice – like a vital tonic of warm milk and honey – carries with it the narrative depth of the Irish songs she grew up singing with her family, and after Crooked Still went their own ways, she took this onto a solo recording career. On stage she appears slightly shy, self-deprecating, but it’s that honesty, that total lack of a screen between voice and listener, that makes you listen to every word. Sarah Jarosz, at 23, has three studio albums and two Grammy nominations to her name, relentlessly tours with her

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Shawn Anderson

Just call us a band – Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan

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M a h s a & M a r j a n Va h dat

The Sound of S Simon Broughton talks to sisters Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat about living in Iran and coping with the country’s music censorship

“

f you ban someone from singing, it’s like telling them not to smile or cry. Or like telling the sun or moon not to shine,” says Mahsa Vahdat, with a smile. “The reason for censorship is fear,” adds her sister Marjan. “If they don’t understand something, they censor it. But they can never stop the truth.” The two softly-spoken sisters aren’t talking about defiant, challenging lyrics. They are not talking about protest songs. They are just talking about the right to simply open their mouths and sing, which they can’t do at home in Iran, except for a female-only audience. ‘Oh crane, I hope your wings will never be tied…’ goes their signature song ‘Dorna’ (Crane). It’s based on an old folk song, but with words adapted by contemporary Persian poet Mohammad Ebrahim Jafari. “The bird is in a cage but she’s a free spirit longing for freedom,” says Mahsa. “The poetry is painful, full of images. Nobody can take your freedom, even if you’re in prison.” ‘Looking forward to the flight of light/In the shadow of the cloud and moon…’ The two women’s voices seem vulnerable, but are perfectly matched. As they intertwine, Marjan picks up the phrase from Mahsa and vice versa, and they weave it into a texture with a resilient strength. It’s like spinning silk. Accompanying themselves on plucked setar and daf (drum), their voices soar over the hubbub at last year’s WOMAD Charlton Park festival. And the crowd keeps growing and growing as the prehensile grip of their vocal lines engage and captivate the audience. After the performance, the queue for their CDs far exceeds the number available. The WOMAD effect and much, much more is visible in a documentary directed by Andrew Smith, called Sisters, which tells their inspirational story.

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At the beginning, it was Marjan, the younger sister by three years, who first started singing at family gatherings at the age of six or seven. “Mahsa was a little bit shy,” she laughs, “but when they asked me to sing, I sang straight away.” Marjan, it seems, was popular, irrepressible and ready for anything. They learned songs first from their grandmother, a strong woman from the region of Semnan, in the foothills of the Alborz mountains to the east of Tehran. She loved and sang the songs of Qamar, famous for being the first woman to sing unveiled in Iran in the 1920s. Around 1990, both sisters started taking singing lessons from Pari Maleki, the mother of a schoolfriend. “We certainly didn’t regard it as our career,” explains Mahsa. “At that time we didn’t know the path was so difficult. It was when we did our first private concert that we understood how challenging it is.” That concert, in 1994, was with their teacher in a basement in Tehran, for a mixed audience. “We also did one or two concerts for women-only audiences. At that time female concerts were very exciting. It was the beginning of a movement. Before that, there were no concerts by female artists at all. We were all silent. Then women got permission to sing just for female audiences and we wanted to take part in this movement. But we didn’t have a good feeling about it, although we knew it was a good start.” “After one or two concerts we understood it was not natural,” adds Marjan. “For us it didn’t seem a nice process. And by taking part in this kind of a concert we justify the discrimination the government is imposing.” Mahsa takes over from her sister, just like the way they sing, reinforcing each other’s vocal line and message. “It’s better that this possibility exists, of course. If there

was no stage at all for women, it would be worse, but we like to be loyal to the art.” To do any public concert in Iran men and women have to submit the material in advance to Ershad (The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance) and get official approval. Many of Mahsa and Marjan’s songs are based on folk songs or the lyrics of great Persian poets like Rumi (13th century) and Hafez (14th century). Like using the words of Milton or Shakespeare, these are acknowledged geniuses of Persian literature whose words can hardly be rejected by the authorities. The problem for the Vahdats is simply that they are women who want to sing, which is prohibited under Iran’s interpretation of Islamic law. There are no authorised public performances (except for female audiences) and no female singers on radio or TV.

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M a h s a & M a r j a n Va h dat

Silence From 1997 the sisters started performing abroad, first for the ex-pat Iranian community in Cologne and in concert for WDR radio in Germany. There were then a few tours, one of which brought Mahsa to the Rhythm Sticks Festival in London. But their break came when they were introduced to Erik Hillestad of Norwegian label KKV. At the

time of George W Bush’s ‘War on Terror’ campaign, Hillestad decided to make a recording called Lullabies from the Axis of Evil, featuring women singers from Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea and Cuba (reviewed in #28). It was launched with a concert in Oslo with Kari Bremnes from Norway, Rim Banna from Palestine, Halla Balsam from Iraq and

the Vahdat sisters. “As soon as I saw them on stage, I realised we had to continue working together,” says Hillestad. “There are very few countries that have kept an unbroken tradition in poetry and music this long. Their art and what they bring to the world tells another story about Iran and gradually people will understand the greatness of Persian art and history.”

Marjan (left) and Mahsa pictured in Tehran

Tahmineh Monzavi

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Europe reviews Mara Aranda i Solatge Lo Testament Bureo Músiques (59 mins)

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Former Ham-ster making ancient music accessible In the UK, you’re unlikely to hear ancient music outside of interludes in Shakespeare’s plays or themed medieval banquets. But in Turkish, Greek and Occitan music, and in the Sephardic songs of the Jewish diaspora, the strains of medieval Europe survive. Suppressed and marginalised peoples must needs keep faith with their deep roots – as amply demonstrated by the Spanish-born Mara Aranda. With more than 20 years of performances behind her, both with L’Ham de Foc and as a solo artist, she has an ear for a catchy rhythm and mixes her own penned ballads and folk songs with traditional compositions from across southern Europe. Four superlatively gifted accompanists back her up with a wide range of exotic

ethnic woodwind, strings and percussive instruments. These incantatory songs are built around sinuous, searching – and indubitably Semitic – melodies, around which Aranda weaves her emotive vocals. Lovers of Scottish bagpipes and other drone-based genres will adore all of these songs, but everyone will enjoy something here. An ambassador of the archaic, she teases us in with an innate warmth and sensuousness. Chris Moss

TRACK TO TRY Jotes de Matinada

Ian Carr & The Various Artists Who He? Reveal Records (40 mins)

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Carr gets motoring Carr is considered by many fellow musicians to be the most original guitarist on the block and is cited by six-string wünderkind Kris Drever as a major influence (the two will tour

together later in 2015). He’s been performing since the 80s but this is his first solo release, on which he handles acoustic and electric guitars, bass, mandolin, harmonium, trumpet and vocals. The tracks also feature violin, viola, kora and guest vocals as Carr makes his distinctive way through nine largely self-penned tunes. The opener, ‘I’ll Call You’, is spoiled by an oddly Vocoder-treated vocal, but the title-track displays some beautifully unadorned solo acoustic guitar. One of the distinctive qualities of Who He? is the variety of ways Carr gets to ring those strings, by taking the more inventive and interesting backroads through a tune. The pleasing intricacies of ‘Never Been to Oxford (Or is that Cambridge)’ are a case in point, and the track that follows it, ‘Just Nu’, opens and expands on a gorgeous refrain. They’re tunes inspired by folk melodies, but the intricate structures and superlative playing are as much jazz as folk, making up an instrumental mosaic that repays attentive ears. Tim Cumming

TRACK TO TRY Never Been to Oxford (Or is that Cambridge)

Bob & Ron Copper Traditional Songs from Rottingdean Fledg’ling Records (43 mins)

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Pure copper: unalloyed delight

Andrew Scott

Acclaimed musician Ian Carr

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‘Month of May’, ‘Birds in the Spring’, ‘Lark in the Morning’, ‘Hard Times of Old England’, ‘Spencer the Rover’ and ‘Good Ale’ – half a dozen songs essential to the British folk revival that will be familiar to anyone who knows artists such as Shirley Collins, Billy Bragg, John Martyn or Bellowhead. They all come from Traditional Songs from Rottingdean, an album released in 1963 of recordings made by Peter Kennedy of the unaccompanied harmony singing of Bob Copper and his cousin Ron. Both were scions of a family that had lived in Rottingdean, Sussex since the 16th century, with a tradition of singing and a repertoire of songs stretching back at least 200 years. The album is being reissued to mark the centenary this year of Bob Copper’s birth. It is a wonderful album. Ron has a rich, rumbling bass voice, over which Bob’s singing hovers and glides like a kestrel over the Downs. The singing is natural, spontaneous, simple and delightful. The songs concern

shepherds, labourers, nature, hardship, love, loss, family and beer; they are an enthralling expression of a way of life and a rich culture, beautifully evoked, too, by Bob’s liner notes. Although ‘liner notes’ scarcely does them justice – they’re more a memoir. Julian May

TRACK TO TRY Spencer the Rover

Dallahan When the Day is on the Turn Dallahan (58 mins)

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More gold cups than you can shake a (fiddle) stick at Formed in December 2013, Edinburgh-based, Irish-Hungarian outfit Dallahan arrived on Scotland’s live circuit with all cylinders firing. This is their first outing on record and serves as a fine introduction to a feisty group. Guitarist Jack Badcock was a finalist in 2014’s BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award, fiddler Jani Lang was a victor in the Hungarian Traditional Music Competition and Ciaran Ryan a previous All Britain Champion, while button accordion is provided by 2013’s BBC Young Traditional Musician Paddy Callaghan. Already, then, a prize-winning combination, Dallahan clearly have a promising future ahead, one underlined by a 12-song set that also features Jarlath Henderson on whistles and uilleann pipes. It’s a satisfying blend of old – the briskly executed ‘Carrick-a-Rede’ and bittersweet ‘Katy Dear’ – and new. Hungarian influences are subtly employed on the forlorn lament ‘The Chosen and the Few’ and in the distinctly Gypsy-edged twang of ‘The Burger Man.’ Strong, characterful playing from all concerned and a secure but lightly worn virtuosity add to the sense of a band beginning to flex its musical muscles to winning effect. Michael Quinn

TRACK TO TRY The Chosen and the Few

False Lights Salvor Wreckord Label (45 mins)

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Folk-rock brilliance This compelling pairing of two innovative artists – Jim Moray and Sam Carter – arose from a late-night

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Europe reviews bar session. False Lights made its stage debut at Suffolk’s Folk East Festival last year and spent a week recording at a log cabin retreat in Lincolnshire, deploying influences ranging from Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead and 70s folk-rock upon British ballads, American spirituals, Victorian poetry and blues. Electronics, feedback and digital beats mix with Carter and Moray’s electric mesh of guitars, with a supporting band of violin, bass, muscular drums and melodeon. From compelling opener ‘The Wife of Usher’s Well’ through to album closer ‘Crossing the Bar’ (a setting of a Tennyson poem), you’re treated to an innovative re-visioning of the folk tradition as an ever-changing living entity. Moray’s melding of the acoustic and electronic, heard on his audacious debut in the early 2000s, fuses here with an enduring affection for the solid beat of 70s folk rock, while Carter’s electric guitar work is superlative. As twin lead singers of this five-piece band, their inventive, sympathetic music-making illuminates the strengths of both. As a band, False Lights has a bright future. Tim Cumming

TRACK TO TRY The Wife of Usher’s Well

Katia Guerreiro Até ao Fim KGP Produções (41 mins)

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Tempestuous fado singer takes things easy Até ao Fim marks a turning point in Guerreiro’s career. But fear not: she’s not quit fado. She’s not exactly flirting with pop music either – even if her new album is produced by Portuguese pop musician Tiago Bettencourt. Rather, she sounds not quite as remarkably intense as she often did before. And that’s something to be missed, even if this calmer and more soothing version of her fado is nevertheless highly captivating and mesmerising – especially on tenderly crafted tunes such as ‘Até ao Fim’, ‘Fado da Noite que nos Fez’ or ‘Quero Cantar para a Lua’. Maybe Guerreiro is just going through a happy period in her life and does not find a real appeal in singing at the extremity of her emotions. It’s not a hard task finding some memorable performances in Até ao Fim – from Guerreiro, but also from Luís Guerreiro on Portuguese guitar and from Pedro Jóia on classical guitar. However, it’s a bit uncertain as to

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of the world

Ágnes Herczku Bandázom

track 4

Fonó Music (50 mins)

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Eat your heart out, Simon Cowell Ágnes Herczku is one of Hungary’s best folk vocalists and has become even better-known since she’s been a judge and presenter on Hungary’s folk version of X Factor on TV. This album was made in collaboration with her partner, Bulgarian-born instrumentalist Nikola Parov, also a significant name on the Hungarian folk scene. The album is a sequence of love songs, mostly sad, some traditional and others original, but it’s often difficult to tell them apart. The opening track sounds typically Hungarian but the accompaniment brings in threads of counterpoint before going into Transylvanian dance mode. Elsewhere, Parov’s love of Balkan instruments has

where she wants to be headed. Até ao Fim is probably an album on the right path to a grand destination. But I’m not sure what that destination is. Gonçalo Frota

TRACK TO TRY Quero Cantar para a Lua

The Jellyman’s Daughter The Jellyman’s Daughter The Jellyman’s Daughter (41 mins)

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Nothing wobbly about this album By something of a coincidence, Edinburgh duo The Jellyman’s Daughter close their debut album with a rather unnervingly intimate version of ‘Darling Corey’, a song that features twice on Maxida Märak & Downhill Bluegrass Band’s Mountain

him playing guitars, bouzouki, kaval and delicate kanun (zither). ‘Glava Li Ti’ is an exquisite Bulgarian song featuring several of these instruments and the excellent fiddle playing of Máté Hegedűs. Sometimes Parov combines disparate ingredients but in an organic way. ‘Gyimesi Karszilamasz’ brings together a melody and the strident violin style from the Carpathian region of Gyimes with a Turkish rhythm and then adds a complex percussive groove with a flute solo that’s very compelling. In short, this record encapsulates some highlights of traditional Hungarian music, brings in some spices from outside and features top vocal and instrumental artistry. Simon Broughton

TRACK TO TRY Gyimesi Karszilamasz

Songs & Other Stories (also reviewed in this issue). That aside, there’s not many other points of comparison between that blistering record and this duo’s determinedly downbeat-sounding debut. That’s surely in part down to the fact that, unusually, it’s Graham Coe’s cello that’s at the forefront of their arrangements, albeit used very inventively; it’s surprisingly effective on an entirely unexpected version of The Beatles’ ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, the album’s only other non-original song. Once you can get beyond that, though, there are some intriguing layers to this music. Emily Kelly’s acoustic guitar work is fluid and inventive, while she has a versatile singing voice. In fact, individually they both have good strong voices, although there’s even more to enjoy when they combine in harmony,

sometimes blending sweetly, at other times adding a bluesy tension. They’ve not been together that long and I’d be surprised if they don’t have more surprises up their collective sleeve. Kevin Bourke

TRACK TO TRY Can’t Buy Me Love

Ulf-Arne Johannessen Einpikkar’n Etnisk Musikklubb (47 mins)

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Squeezebox that’ll lead you a merry dance A member of Norway’s famous traditional dance-troupe FRIKAR, Ulf-Arne Johannessen is a national champion of the halling dance, one designed for men to show

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essential

Bluegrass & Newgrass Albums

Doug DeLoach selects ten bluegrass and newgrass albums that offer both an illuminative historical and contemporary perspective on America’s signature roots music

01 Elephant Revival These Changing Skies (Itz Evolving, 2013) Echoing the way American folkies in the 60s gravitated toward the jazz-inflected sound of English import Pentangle, progressive bluegrass fans have embraced Elephant Revival, a Coloradobased string quintet that mixes folk, jazz, country, Celtic, even rock and reggae elements in its performance. A Top of the World in #99.

02 Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys Foggy Mountain Banjo (Columbia, 1961) Both members of the seminal Bluegrass Boys led by Bill Monroe, three-finger banjo picker Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt were pioneers of bluegrass in their own right. Without their performances of ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown’ and the theme from The Beverly Hillbillies TV show, the evolutionary path of bluegrass, as well as the emergence of newgrass, are up for grabs.

03 Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn (Rounder, 2014) Fleck necessarily belongs on almost any essential bluegrass list. This duet album with his wife represents a fresh assessment of the banjo’s amazing flexibility and range, offers up new perspectives on familiar songs such as ‘(I’ve Been Working on the) Railroad’ and ‘Pretty Polly’, and contributes worthy additions to the repertoire, such as Washburn’s ‘Shotgun Blues’. A Top of the World in #105.

04 Gibson Brothers They Called it Music (Alliance, 2012) The Gibson Brothers are master craftsmen in the world 98 s o n g l i n e s

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of contemporary bluegrass. With deep roots in gospel, devoted to traditional repertoire, and graced by a high lonesome harmonic palette, Eric and Leigh Gibson are the 21st-century incarnation of the Louvin Brothers. This 2012 release best captures the emotional depth and instrumental prowess of their sound.

05 David Grisman Quintet 25th Year Reunion Concert (Acoustic Disc, 2011) There is arguably no more important progenitor of progressive bluegrass than mandolinist David Grisman. The creator of ‘dawg’ music, which combines Django-esque jazz with American folk and bluegrass elements, Grisman is perhaps best known these days for collaborating with Jerry Garcia. The original DGQ members reunited to play a concert that now marks the apotheosis of a movement.

06 Sarah Jarosz Build Me Up from Bones (Sugar Hill, 2011) Jarosz’ deep talent as an instrumentalist, singer and songwriter is on full display here, superbly augmented by regular trio mates Alex Hargreaves (violin) and Nathaniel Smith (cello), plus a host of like-minded souls including Chris Thile, Jerry Douglas and Aoife O’Donovan. Reviewed in #98.

07 Alison Krauss & Union Station Paper Airplane (Rounder, 2011) Paper Airplane incorporates all of the qualities that have made Alison Krauss & Union Station the poster band for the 21st-century bluegrass revival. The album showcases Krauss with her all-star cadre – Jerry Douglas (dobro, lap steel, vocals), Dan Tyminski (guitar, mandolin, lead vocal), and Ron Block

(banjo, guitar) – in a style predominantly reminiscent of earlier, rootsier performances, yet still retaining the band’s penchant for experimentation. A Top of the World in #76

08 Bill Monroe Music of Bill Monroe from 1936-1994 (MCA, 1994) To fully appreciate contemporary bluegrass, you have to dig into the ancestral foundations of the category, which means listening first and foremost to Bill Monroe. This 4-CD set is the best bet for beginners, covering Monroe’s pre-Bluegrass Boys duets with brother Charlie through the mandolinist’s final recording session in 1994.

09 Punch Brothers The Phosphorescent Blues (Nonesuch, 2014) Punch Brothers’ music draws on a multitude of sources ranging from traditional bluegrass, jazz and swing to folk, alt-rock and classical. This album is simultaneously bound by a theme – the plague of perpetual digital connectivity – and punctuated by distinctive compositions that form an impressionistic, almost surreal, soundscape. A Top of the World in #106.

10 Peter Rowan The Old School (Compass, 2013) A living link to the band that started the whole shebang, 73-year-old mandolinist and singer-songwriter Rowan is still contributing to the cause six decades after joining the Bluegrass Boys. Recorded ‘live to tape,’ The Old School serves as a foot-stomping testament to the enduring legacy of the genre. A Top of the World in #95.

+ LET US KNOW Have any other suggestions?

Write and let us know, letters@songlines.co.uk

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